A Bittersweet Symphony
by Mindless.Self.Indulgence
Summary: There's nothing wrong with living with a secret. But when everyone's got more than their fair share of dirty laundry, and it slowly begins to seep into reality, just who will be affected, and whose life will change forever? Horrible at Summaries. Read.


Author's note and the general disclaimer:

Hello community! This is –M.S.I- with a new story, completely fresh and TOTALLY unheard of before! And trust me, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Anyways, those of you who haven't heard from me in a long time, this is going to be updated…once or twice a month? Generally as quickly as I can shell out chapters. I do have seven honours classes to attend, you know. X_X

Anyways, to give a brief synopsis, this story is what I like to call the 'crash' effect. If anyone's ever seen the movie Crash, you'll understand.

General warnings are

Het, implied Yaoi, implied Yuri, Non Consensual, Lots of cursing, Lots of bitching and whining, and Axel … likes to watch Saix with the pool boy?! What the hell?

If you don't like any of that stuff, don't read, and don't complain. Nobody likes a bitch. : )

General Disclaimer:

I do not own Kingdom Hearts One or Two, or any Final Fantasy 7, 10, or 10-2 characters that may be mentioned in this story or any of my other literary works. Any resemblance to outside characters or people, real or otherwise, is merely coincidence and is not intentional. Any resemblance to any company- ah screw it, you know what I'm going to say.

ENJOY!

-OOOOOO BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY OOOOOO-

A Bittersweet Symphony

Chapter One

The Beginning of an End

"God damnit."

The shiny black button fumbled from Xemnas' grasp again as he hastily tried to pull himself into a halfway decent imitation of how he had arrived to his classroom almost 10 hours prior. Though he was failing greatly at it, he pressed on, despite the high-pitched giggles from the half-dressed student that sat on his desk, legs spread provocatively. He shook his head in frustration, incessant knocking resounding throughout the room, giving him a headache of previously unknown proportions in combination with the hushed laughter coming from his not-so alarmed learner.

"I'll be right there!" He barked at the stranger behind the portal, none too pleased at the interruption between him and the condescendingly lovely woman perched on his mahogany desk. Finally satisfied that he looked somewhat the opposite of 'rough classroom sex with my calculus student', he turned to walk briskly to the door, hand wrapping around the cold metal of the knob. He paused for a minute before turning over his shoulder to see his part-time student, part-time lover returning to a desk, pretending to be working diligently on some notes.

"_Such a good fucking liar,"_ he mused before returning his attention back to the door and twisting his wrist sharply to one side, jerking the door back inhumanely fast. In front of him stood a ridiculously tall male, at least for his age Xemnas figured, with short black hair and sideburns that would make the head of Lancer Corporation jealous. At this, Xemnas snorted to himself, watching the burly student jump slightly.

"Can I help you, sir?" Xemnas said, eyes cold as his head cocked slightly to the left in inquiry.

The tanned male who trembled in front of him held up his book, _Lancer Corp Presents: Simple Accounting_, before managing a pitiful, "I-I was supposed…to see my teacher for t-tutoring, but she isn't here, y'know? She had a note on her door that said to come d-down to F230, y'know? You're Mr…Noirceur?"

"That I am." Xemnas' headache suddenly got a lot worse. God damn Ariel and her tendency to leave the school early on every day that ended with a 'y'. Xemnas pressed two tanned fingers to his temple and inhaled deeply before mumbling something that sounded a lot like, "Fuck my life and fuck everyone else."

Rai blinked and cocked his head to the side, "Well, Mrs. Triton said that she had to pick up her husband from the airport by six, so I guess it really isn't all that early, y'know?"

He really needed to stop voicing his thoughts aloud, Xemnas thought before the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He stopped before holding up a hand to silence Rai's mindless ramble, brows furrowed in mild confusion, "Excuse me, what time was she supposed to pick up her husband?"

Rai blinked before starting back up, his mind slowly working to remember what he had just said, "Oh, Six o'clock, y'know?"

Xemnas sighed before resignedly looking at his watch:

5:21, P.M.

Without tearing his eyes away from the small machine on his wrist, he reached out with his free hand and flicked the light on his pallid wall from 'on' to 'off'. His student behind him stood up, making an annoyed noise, before gathering her things and exiting the room, squeezing between him and the doorframe and making sure to grab a handful of his backside none-too-subtly. If Rai had noticed, he made no protest or audible note of her perverse action. Xemnas sighed before focusing his ochre eyes on Rai, feeling the teenager shrinking under his intense gaze,

"Go home. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I was supposed to leave twenty minutes ago."

Rai visibly deflated, "Yes, sir." A bit irritated, the black haired boy quickly turned around and ran down the hallway at break-neck speed, quickly disappearing from Xemnas' sight within a matter of moments.

"And you…" Xemnas began before spinning around and grabbing his young blonde-haired person by the hips, pressing her against the wall and leaning his head down, his breath rushing over her skin, "Larxene. I expect you to be here tomorrow for some actual tutoring." He felt the girl shudder under his touch before she answered his demands, dropping her books and bag onto the floor and grabbing a handful of his long silver hair, pulling his face closer to hers. Emerald orbs met amber before she managed a small smirk, her lips ghosting over his, waiting for his reaction to such an open display of affection.

Xemnas frowned before letting go of her, making his way down the long, deserted hallway and completely ignoring her frustrated groans and the angry retreat she made in the opposite direction. His pace was agonizingly slow and deliberate, eyes soaking in the full view of his place of work and the plain, white washed walls coupled with dirty off-white tile and navy blue lockers. He ran his fingers through his hair before shaking his head slightly, sighing yet again into the silent always-listening hallways of an institution that had long been left alone for the weekend. The sound of idle chatter, however, was returned in the stead of the usually beautiful quiet that normally greeted his exhausted groans.

Xemnas frowned, getting ready to reprimand two students who had no doubt overstayed their welcome for the day doing something that probably would require more than one scrub before it came off the walls. However, he came upon an unexpected sight: there stood Zexion, the quiet, reserved librarian who hardly said anything sans a few grunts of acknowledgement talking to a woman he had only known as 'Almasy's old lady' though she was anything but. She stood slightly shorter than the purple haired librarian, platinum blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and round sapphire eyes squinting with her laughter. She was thin, lanky almost, with small hips and a slightly above average (though Xemnas knew damn close to nothing about breasts) bust.

And they were _laughing_?

Xemnas' nose wrinkled in mild confusion- one, what in the good lord's name was Namine, if he remembered her name correctly, doing in the school after hours when her son had managed to not break somebody's nose during the day, and had actually managed to show up for once? And two, why in the good lord's name (Xemnas had no other deity or God to question, though he wasn't very religious himself) was she with _Zexion_ who just happened to be _laughing_?

Deciding not to ponder this further, Xemnas made his way past the two giggling people before Zexion perked up, waving slightly at Xemnas between chortles. Xemnas returned the periwinkle haired boy's greeting with a slight nod, before hearing a soft voice from Zexion's left,

"Oh, Mr. Noirceur! How good to see you!"

Xemnas turned and did nothing to mask his surprise at her words, "Ah, yes, hello Mrs. Almasy. How are things today?"

She giggled, her hand reaching out to rest on Zexion's shoulder. The male, who looked maybe five or six years her junior, did nothing to move away from her. Xemnas' brows furrowed slightly as he mentally made note of this. Her voice brought him back to reality for a split second, "Oh, I'm well. It's good to be here without having to bring my husband for once."

Xemnas shook his head, remembering the platinum blonde parole officer that Namine had for a husband. In their case, the apple fell far from the tree. So far, in fact, it ended up in a completely different continent. It really was a shame.

Offering a sympathetic, though false, smile in response, Xemnas turned to leave, only replying with, "That's great Mrs. Almasy-Oh, and Zexion? Please do stop by my room tomorrow morning. I need some help locating some books for my upcoming assignments, if you don't mind. You know how my class tends to be a pain in the ass for everyone."

Zexion chortled, waving at Xemnas' retreating form, "Will do Noirceur! Have a good day!"

Xemnas shook his head in disbelief before pushing the door open to the outside. He was welcomed into the crisp autumn evening with a rush of pleasantly cool air; a complete change from the musty warmth of the high school he taught at. The sunset cast a warm orange glow over the buildings and homes scattered throughout the city-it seemed almost as if the entire place had been set ablaze with secrets that had yet to come to the surface.

Xemnas blinked before pausing mid-step. _Where had that come from? _No matter, he told himself, before continuing onward along the sidewalk path, eyes scanning the very few cars for his own red vehicle. He spotted it with a small, relieved smile, and headed in its direction. It rested under a large tree that sat upon a small hilltop, and under the tree rested three teenaged boys. A pair of brothers, Roxas and Sora, both of whom Xemnas taught, and the blonde haired terror himself, Seifer Almasy.

Sora rested against the tree, his bouncy brown spikes shaking in the slight breeze that whispered through the air, legs crossed while he tilted his head back, seeming to drink in the calm atmosphere that surrounded them all. Roxas, his twin, resembled him in all senses, save for their hair, which Roxas had cut short in what Xemnas could only acknowledge during class as his 'duck tail' cut, and dyed it a dirty blonde. He had big blue eyes, much like his brother, that were closed as he rested a ways away from his sibling, seeming to just enjoy the great outdoors.

And then there was Seifer. He was a lean, tall boy of about 17 or 18, given that he was a senior. His platinum blonde hair, which he no doubt inherited from his mother, was messy and covered by a black beanie of sorts with a white symbol on the front that Xemnas could not readily identify-probably a skateboarding emblem of some sort. He was much older and larger than the twins were, and he sat close to Sora, who seemed to be facing away from him apprehensively, lower lip trembling in the very slightest. Xemnas had to wonder what he was doing- it was obvious that Seifer and the brunet twin weren't close, and Roxas was too warm and friendly a person to be seen hanging around with the school bully. At least, so Xemnas had observed.

As Xemnas approached his car, he unlocked the doors with his key, a feature he loved about most modern day cars, even if the gas mileage did suck more than Larxene with a vacuum cleaner. He chuckled to himself at the rude joke before opening the door and sitting in the comfortable black leather seat. He smiled before getting comfortable and setting his seatbelt with a close to inaudible 'click'. He sat back and breathed deeply, eyes resting on the trio that sat not too far from him.

Roxas had fallen asleep, if the even rhythm of his chest rising and falling was any indication, and Sora seemed to tense up as Seifer wrapped an arm around him, whispering something in his ear and laughing loudly.

Xemnas raised an eyebrow before placing his car in reverse and gently applying pressure to the gas. It was better to leave questions unasked, for everyone's sake.

-OOOOOO BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY OOOOOO-

Xemnas tapped his left hand gently on his steering wheel to the beat of the song that was coming through his speakers. Nothing special, a little reggae to remind him of his tropical upbringing, and though he couldn't really understand a damn thing the singer was saying, the soothing music helped to relax his already frazzled nerves. He cursed to himself as the light ahead of him eased from yellow into red; he had always despised this part of town, not because of crime or anything of the sort, but the ominous and eerie feelings that dark alleyways always gave him when he was near them. He was half-worried a hungry hobo would try to break into his car, to be honest.

He sighed and took his hands off his steering wheel-this light was always agonizingly slow- before he caught a glimpse of fiery red hair moving rather quickly in his direction, as well as hearing the low wail of a police car as it tailed the running teenager, splashing assortments of blue and red across the brick buildings. The figure, extremely skinny with broad shoulders, came running fast up the sidewalk, darting past Xemnas in a flash of black and red, and immediately the school teacher knew that his student was in, yet again, a lot of trouble with the law.

The black and white police car pulled up beside him behind a parked car and immediately the blond haired male scampered out of his car, pursuing the red haired student that had ducked into the alleyway in desperate hopes of escape. "Bloody hell!" he heard from the officer as he sprinted after the teenaged offender. Xemnas blinked in surprise before he looked to the officer's car, wondering if the man had even shut his door in his blind pursuit of justice. Instead, he recognized a large vase of flowers of many types, with a large red blow wrapped around the base of the vessel, a large paper attached to it with curly cursive letters entailing the place of business they had been purchased from:

Marluxia's Wonders of Nature Florist Shop

Xemnas chuckled to himself as the light turned green and he began to drive forward, fumbling in his pocket for his cell phone. He had to mention this purchase to his boyfriend, and what had ended up of the 'happy customer', reduced to chasing down teenage hooligans.

"Watch yourself Axel," Xemnas thought as he left the police car and its owner to chasing down the red-haired delinquent, "You might not get away this time."

-OOOOOO BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY OOOOOO-

Axel couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as he vaulted over a few boxes and onto a fire escape, before he swung from the rusty structure over a moderately tall wire fence. He landed and faltered for a few steps at the rough landing, his legs screaming for him to stop the constant abuse they had to endure. He dared a glance over his shoulder and noticed that his parole officer had given up the 'heated pursuit' per usual; Luxord never chased him for long, knowing it was a completely lost cause. In any case, Axel continued to sprint straight ahead, lungs burning as he gasped for oxygen. Luxord wasn't stupid, and could easily be coming around from another side- Axel had to be one-step ahead of the man at all times. It was how they played their game.

Giving a happy whoop, Axel turned his head forward before sliding on his heels out of the alleyway, turning to his left to continue running. However, as fast as the man was, he couldn't exactly brag about his attentiveness or reaction times when he wasn't running from a man in uniform. He collided painfully with a much taller, much more muscular male, sending them both careening to the sidewalk in an aching entanglement of pain. Immediately, he made to get up, doing his best to try to assess if the person was seriously injured while desperately attempting to see if any police officers, or parole officers, were coming his way. Satisfied that he was safe, Axel turned his full attention to the black haired man who was currently yelling out a string of curses that Axel conveniently decided to block out.

A large bodyguard of sorts who Axel was sure was well over seven feet tall, if not outright seven foot exactly, helped the man to his feet. The three men stood looking at each other, the black haired, shorter male, though still taller than Axel, fuming with anger. Axel frowned before offering his hand to the man, unaware of what exactly to say, "I'm really sorry I knocked you over man. I wasn't paying attention and-"

But the stocky man, whose black braids whipped around almost in an ire of their own behind him, narrowed his violet eyes in clear displeasure before he began to yell at Axel again, "You idiot! Are you blind or are you just stupid? Watch where the hell you're going!"

Axel's temper was especially short, and quickly he blurted out, "Fuck you dude!"

The braided man, whose sideburns were quite large, was taken aback before he moved so he was inches away from Axel, his hot breath washing over him as his voice spoke in a condescending tone, "Watch your tongue, _punk_, you don't even amount to the bird shit I have to wipe off my shoes."

Axel was seeing red, literally and figuratively, his bangs having stuck to his forehead with the amount of sweat that he was secreting. He was just not taking any shit today. He gritted his teeth together, balling his hands into fists, and before he could comprehend exactly what his body was doing, he found himself throwing a powerful, no reservations punch straight to the unknown man's jaw. As he smiled in the feeling of smug satisfaction from seeing the man's mouth drip blood onto his crisp, new business suit, he failed to notice, too late, that the previously ignored bodyguard was making himself known, and quite violently.

The larger man crashed his balled fist onto the top of Axel's skull, sending the gangly youth crashing back to the sidewalk where this entire situation had started. Axel groaned in pain before rolling over and staggering back to his feet, the dizziness overcoming him in a powerful wave that threatened to send him straight into unconsciousness. He cracked his neck and readied himself in a casual fighter's stance, spitting out a small amount of blood onto the sidewalk.

"Bring it on, bitch."

-OOOOOO BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY OOOOOO-

The frown set on Leon's face as he watched the entire scene play out in front of him was barely noticeable to anyone who was unfamiliar with the personal trainer and weapons expert. Though he was across the street, he was pretty sure he could hear Xaldin's angry mumbles as he hurriedly tried to find his cell phone. Lexaeus was making short work of the kid who had managed to land a hit in on the founder of Lancer Corporations. He felt a smaller, softer hand wrap around his and squeeze apprehensively, then turned his head downward to see his girlfriend's large brown eyes shimmering, fear written all over her face.

"Yuffie," he began, giving her a reassuring squeeze as she began to fumble through her left pocket for something, most likely her cell phone given the beating the stranger was receiving from the none-too-gentle Lexaeus, "Yuffie, babe, calm down." She did not heed his words, cursing in the realization that she had forgotten her phone at home. She turned her eyes up at him, the edges brimming with tears, "You know Lexaeus, Leon! He could kill that kid without even trying! I have to get him some kind of help!"

Leon sighed and shook his head, turning his head in the opposite direction, away from her. He noticed Cloud and Tifa, the latter of the two absolutely absorbed in the fight, watching anxiously. However, the blonde haired male, Cloud, refused to glance in the direction of the scuffle, eyes set on Leon. They made brief eye contact, and Leon noticed a glimmer of what he could only identify as turmoil in the blonde's swirling blue depths before they looked away from each other.

He glanced down at his wrist.

6:03, P.M.

He needed to pick up his baby sister, Selphie, soon.

He was shook from his thoughts when Yuffie let go of his hand and began to run across the road, a sickening cracking sound booming throughout the relatively empty streets. He winced, and knew before he even had to look, that the red-head opposition wasn't going to recover from a hit like that. He looked across the street in time to see the stranger's head bounce, much like a basketball, off the concrete. Tifa, in complete horror, started after Yuffie, already on the line with who he only assumed could be emergency services.

Leon looked toward Cloud before motioning towards the small mob that was forming around the possibly concussed kid. Cloud nodded, and they both headed across the street.

_I didn't want to get involved. This isn't my place to be defending some punk._

Leon quickly stood in front of Lexaeus, impeding him from getting to Axel to lay any more deadly blows on the already beaten youth. He narrowed his eyes, voice hard, "Lexaeus, you've gone too far and you know it."

Lexaeus stopped before raising an eyebrow at the much tinier man, mentally making a note to try and rip the muscular man apart. Behind Lexaeus, Leon could see Cloud, who was arguing heatedly with Xaldin. A small red tint graced his cheeks at the sight of Xaldin's distraught demeanor, and clearly angry expression. The look on his face made him beautiful, even if he had blood caked on one side of his face.

Leon shook his head, one hand on Lexaeus' chest, then turned around to watch Tifa as she tried her best to keep Axel awake, Yuffie almost yelling hurriedly into the receiver of the small silver cell phone Tifa had handed over to her.

"Yes…No…I don't know. God, Tifa, what's his name?!"

Tifa tried her best to gently soothe Axel's head, watching as he clutched it and gritted his teeth in pain. The redhead murmured something, and Tifa looked towards Yuffie, her eyes wide, "He says his name is…Axel."

Yuffie quickly relayed the message, doing her best to try and keep herself from fainting at the amount of blood on both the sidewalk, and the few small tendrils that were flowing from the base of Axel's cranium.

"Thank you." Yuffie finished, as she took off her jacket and handed it to Tifa, who tried her best to get Axel to lay on it. At once, his eyes began to flutter, and Tifa began to speak to him again, watching as he came in and out of consciousness.

"Hey? Axel! Stay with me, okay? Stay with me. Help…is on its way." She watched as Axel gave her a weak smile before he slipped into complete and utter unconsciousness, the searing pain in his head dulling once his eyelids fell shut.

-OOOOOO BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY OOOOOO-

Alright guys, I'd appreciate reviews, though they're not really necessary. I'd like to know what everyone thinks so far. I've put off my homework for 3 hours to do this. Now I have to actually do it. ) :

Anyways, read and review, second chapter is already planned out!

: )


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